Felton Institute is a proven leader in providing impactful and life-changing services for justice-impacted individuals. Felton’s Mission to Motivate (M2M) program serves justice-impacted clients who also experience mild to moderate behavioral health issues. M2M addresses the unique needs of their clients while recognizing the correlation between justice-impacted populations and behavioral health, particularly trauma. Justice Division Director Curtis Penn explains, “Many of our clients have experienced trauma, both past and present. As a result, our M2M clients may suffer from sleep disorders, mood swings, anxiety, depression, avoidance of emotions, or fear of recurrence.”
M2M addresses a client’s behavioral health by linking them to counseling and psychiatric services, peer support, and life skills development, among other services. In addition, M2M takes a holistic approach by addressing food and housing insecurity. They provide clients with housing assistance, public transportation vouchers, emergency food gift cards, and personal grooming and hygiene products.
Benefits of M2M’s Holistic Approach
Mr. Penn emphasizes the importance of utilizing an integrated approach to addressing behavioral health, “Some of the misconceptions about justice-impacted folks and mental health is that the only remedy for dealing with mental health is dispensing medication without consideration for other therapeutic holistic remedies.” He goes onto say, “There are social and psychological determinants that are often the impetus of mental health attributes that go unaddressed if the only remedy is psychotropic medication.”
In addition, M2M also promotes self-efficacy and provides resources that allow clients to get back on their feet and re-engage with the community. Mr. Penn shares how they helped a client who was struggling to cover his outstanding payments to the DMV that prevented him from enrolling in a trade school. “We helped a client enroll in the Academy of Truck Driving school,” Mr. Penn explains, “we assisted with payment for the pre-enrollment fee and entry-level driving training and paid his outstanding DMV payments.”
M2M promotes self-efficacy and community re-engagement that allows clients to flourish and thrive upon re-entry. From connecting clients to behavioral health services to responding to immediate basic food and housing needs, M2M embraces a holistic approach that creates positive and lasting outcomes for those they serve.
For more information about our Mission to Motivate (M2M) program, visit the M2M Program webpage or email them at hayward@felton.org.
Felton Institute responds to the needs of our community by providing innovative, evidence-informed social services to transform lives. Our organization offers 50+ programs that address mental health, the unhoused, early care and education, those impacted by the justice system, transitional age youth, as well as aging adults. Our award-winning programs, which have been recognized as national models, combine the latest scientific research with cultural sensitivity and a deep commitment to supporting and reflecting the communities we serve.
Founded in 1889, Felton is the oldest secular non-profit social services provider in the City and County of San Francisco. We have expanded our services across most Bay Area counties and continue to be at the forefront of pioneering new approaches to meet the emerging needs of underserved populations.
We know what it looks like to successfully build community.
We foster impactful change by strengthening the community as a premiere service provider. We also strengthen other service providers by supporting them in their fiscal, human resources, communications, IT and overall agency operations. With Felton’s support, they are able to focus on providing the best services to their clients, doing the work they were meant to do.
Felton empowers the community and ensures successful outcomes to all we engage with.
Felton Institute is a tax-exempt organization registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit under EIN 94-1156530.